Evaluating the influence of winemaking practices on biogenic amine production by wine microorganisms

[摘要] Biogenic amines are nitrogenous compounds of low molecular weight found in mostfermented foods, including wine. These biologically produced amines are essential atlow concentrations for normal metabolic and physiological functions in animals, plantsand micro-organisms. However, biogenic amines can have adverse effects at highconcentrations and pose a health risk for sensitive individuals. Symptoms includenausea, hot flushes, headaches, red rashes, respiratory distress and fluctuations inblood pressure. A number of countries have implemented upper limits for histamine infood and wine. This development has already started to threaten commercial exporttransactions and may become more serious in the near future, especially in thecompetitive wine industry of today. The most important biogenic amines in wine includehistamine, tyramine, putrescine, cadaverine and phenylethylamine which are producedfrom the amino acids histidine, tyrosine, ornithine, lysine and phenylalaninerespectively.Biogenic amines are mainly produced in wine by microbial decarboxylation of thecorresponding precursor amino acid. It may be produced by yeast during alcoholicfermentation, by lactic acid bacteria during malolactic fermentation, or potentially byspoilage microbes such as acetic acid bacteria and Brettanomyces. However, lactic acidbacteria are widely accepted as the main causative agents.Inoculation with commercial malolactic fermentation starter cultures that do notpossess the relevant decarboxylase genes may inhibit the growth and activity ofdecarboxylase positive indigenous bacteria and as such control the production ofbiogenic amines in wine. In this study it was shown that co-inoculation of malolacticstarter cultures together with alcoholic fermentation could reduce the incidence ofbiogenic amines in wine compared to conventional inoculation protocols; presumablybecause undesirable activities were restrained at an earlier stage during co-inoculation.It was also indicated in this work that in some cases the effect of co-inoculation onbiogenic amine reduction may only be visible after a period of ageing. The frequency ofbiogenic amine occurrence in wines aged for a short period was generally higher in thepresence of fermentation lees than in its absence.This work also included a preliminary investigation into the contribution ofcommercial wine yeast starter cultures to biogenic amine production. Diamines andpolyamines (putrescine, spermidine and cadaverine) were produced to variable extentsby all yeasts with very little or no production of physiologically important biogenicamines (histamine, tyramine and phenylethylamine).Another objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of commonwinemaking practices on biogenic amine production under winemaking conditions. Wehave shown that biogenic amine production by lactic acid bacteria could be influenced,amongst others, by the presence of precursor amino acids in the grape must or wine,the time of contact between juice or wine and grape skins, the time of contact betweenwine and yeast lees, the presence of microbial nutrients, wine pH, sulphite and ethanol levels, the phenolic composition of the wine and the number of decarboxylase positivelactic acid bacteria present in the wine.Lately, the wine industry is under increasing pressure to increase measures toensure food safety and security and to eliminate any compound, present even in traceamounts that could reduce the wholesomeness of the wine. The need arises for a rapidand inexpensive method for quality control. In this study we investigated the potential touse Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to rapidly screen for the presence ofelevated levels of biogenic amines. This presents a novel method for the detection andquantification of total biogenic amines in wines.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University